Games › Transportation › Transportation + Historical
Should I ship a Historical Transportation game?
Transportation + Historical
Only 15 developers shipped a Historical Transportation game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Legend of Khiimori, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.2k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2764 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 32 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) |
| Top 25% | $335k (exactly $335,232) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,735,521) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue down 75% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Transportation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Historical
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Transportation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Exploration, Open World
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $49.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Realistic, 3D, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 3,386 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Transportation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationFair
- + PvPFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + RacingFair
- + Action-AdventureFair
- + LogicFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Level EditorPoor odds
- + Life SimPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Railway Empire | older | $29.99 | 7,219 82% | 217k | $6.5M (exactly $6,494,934) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | Sailing Era | older | $24.99 | 4,565 78% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,422,380) | GY Games |
| | Railway Empire 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,966 72% | 59k | $2.9M (exactly $2,948,410) | Gaming Minds Studios |
| | Mashinky | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,361 84% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,770,042) | Jan Zelený |
| | The Legend of Khiimori | · EA | $29.99 | 1,929 82% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,735,521) | Aesir Interactive, NightinGames |
| | Train Fever | older | $19.99 | 2,765 61% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,658,170) | Urban Games |
| | Trainz Railroad Simulator 2022 | older | $39.99 | 1,214 74% | 36k | $1.5M (exactly $1,456,436) | N3V Games |
| | Railroad Corporation | older | $35.99 | 1,094 74% | 33k | $1.2M (exactly $1,181,192) | Corbie Games |
| | Railroad Corporation 2 | $39.99 | 376 69% | 11k | $451k (exactly $451,087) | Corbie Games | |
| | Train Sim World® 7 | $49.99 | 278 74% | 8.3k | $417k (exactly $416,917) | Dovetail Games | |
| | Worldwide Rush | $19.99 | 559 77% | 17k | $335k (exactly $335,232) | Memel Games | |
| | Ile d'Or | · EA | $14.99 | 164 88% | 4.9k | $74k (exactly $73,751) | あとらそふと |
| | TRS22 Model Railroaders Edition | $39.99 | 15 66% | 450 | $18k (exactly $17,996) | N3V Games | |
| | SkyChart: Airline Executive | · EA | $24.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $15k (exactly $14,994) | Casey Jones Labs |
| | Silk Roads II: Paths of Fortune | $9.99 | 24 75% | 720 | $7.2k (exactly $7,193) | Priory Games | |
| | Museum Girls Fleet Maneuvers: The Dockhand | $4.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) | HitD Entertainment | |
| | Ian's Rocket | $14.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) | IQopolis |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.